Friday, March 30, 2007

Golden Ring Mall sign

Rosedale, Maryland - October 10, 1986

The wonderful and quite distinctive(!) entrance sign at the Golden Ring Mall, in Rosedale, Maryland. A Hecht Co. store is also visible in the background as a bonus (the mall was originally anchored by Hecht's and Wards).

In recent years what was Golden Ring Mall, was razed and redeveloped into a generic Wal-Mart/Sam's Club anchored deal, now called the Centre at Golden Ring. (Nothing to see here, move along...)

I recently had a dream that I invented a time machine. The first thing I wanted to do was go back and visit Golden Ring Mall. Easily the greatest mall of all time in its heyday. I remember going to Midnight Madness at the movie theater many many times to see Rocky Horror Picture Show with my friends. It brought a tear to my eye when it went under.

As I recall, Golden Ring was the first mall built from scratch in Baltimore County Maryland, not just a shopping center like Towson Plaza or Eastpoint that were originally open air shopping centers. They were enclosed in the early 70's when malls were becoming all the rage. Golden Ring was being built when I was in high school. It was a pretty big deal when it opened. I went there for a number of years. Then the area started becoming more crime ridden. White Marsh Mall was newer and safer so by the 1990's Golden Ring was no longer a big deal. It really is a shame. My favorite thing to do at the mall was go to the movies with friends and then go to Farrell's for an ice cream. Good memories of a "dead mall".